several ornamental pressed anderson victorian era red bricks salvaged from freemont street house

on the final day of the freemont street house demolition, the day before we salvaged the ornamental white painted galvanized sheet iron cornice, we managed to secure any and all of the decorative face brick or blocks that adorned the two-flat's facade. the salvaged terra cotta bricks were designed with an embossed bulls eye or sunburst design motif. a few of the bricks recovered from the site retained original black stenciled numbers and other manufacturer markings. these markings suggest that the bricks were designed and manufactured by the brick fabricating giant, anderson pressed brick company of chicago.

in addition to rescuing the brick, i discovered a remarkably intact hayes brothers carbonated soda or mineral water hutchinson type bottle with the original stopper (the rubber gasket or seal exhibited virtually no wear) in one of the remaining walls left standing early in the day. several hours later, additional faceted or mug-based bottles were found in the ground when the house had been completely leveled. the condition of these bottles were much different since they had been exposed to the elements. regardless, it is safe to say that at least one of the builders or carpenters preferred this brand of carbonated beverage, consumed while erecting the house sometime during the 1880's.